First of all, whatever the internet says or a reviewer tells you, the best portable vaporizer is the one that meets your needs. It works for you, so in spite of whatever anyone says about a model, if your unit does what you wanted and expected, that is the best device. With that out of the way, let’s talk shop. To help consumers feel confident enough to choose just one, editors and retailers give their clients a checklist.

The Checklist

On this list are items such as size: is the device truly discrete, for instance. Surprisingly, even a few pen vaporizers are just a little bit too long for their category. Certain items vaporize herbs and others look after wet materials. A few handle multiple materials: what are you vaping?

Several products in the market for portable or handheld vaporizers cost around $250, which is a considerable investment. Even allowing for the fact that analogs are more expensive, most smokers never cough up $250 at one time (and that doesn’t include the cost of herbs or oils).

A few brands are instantly offered as reference points because a lot has been written about them, they are established, and their reputations are excellent. Consider Davinci, Ploom, Arizer, and Firefly. These are just some of many good quality items on the market.

Arizer Solo: Short Canadian

Who says good things don’t come in small packages, or that every Canadian is a 6-foot tall lumberjack? You’ve been watching Due South re-runs and reading Canadian Geographic too much if you overlook the potential for something small and good-looking to come out of Canada. An Arizer measures just 4.5″.

It is battery-operated as most handheld vaporizers are. The only other option would be to use butane tanks like the Iolite, which is also a good unit. Until someone invents solar-powered or wind-generated vaporizers, batteries are your best bet.

Allow 4 hours for charging the Solo and then it works for about 2 hours, heating from 122F to 410F or until you tell it to switch off. An automatic shut-off function prevents you from wasting the battery too much. Materials are heated in a ceramic chamber but a glass whip provides a neutral vapor pathway.

The Solo is wrapped in stainless steel to ensure it is insulated against heat loss and so heat does not evacuate through the sides, onto your bare hands. Vaporize herbs or essential oils and pay about $225 for a solid name in vaping.

Firefly Vaporizer

This is another small but beautiful vaporizer: considered by some to be the Rolls Royce of portable vaporizers. Watch the heating element glow hot through a narrow grate too small to accidentally poke fingers through but wide enough to ventilate the element and avoid overheating.

A Firefly could easily be mistaken for a handheld phone at first glance. Then you see it is slightly thicker but still small and light; palm-sized. The exterior is glossy black, red, or grey.

Its closest cousin is probably the Davinci Ascent, roughly the same size but with a glass mouthpiece stem and swivel-opening lower chamber.

Using a glass heating chamber, the Firefly creates clean vapor. If it utilized stainless steel, there is a chance that your vapor would be laced with the taste of metal. Glass is inert. Control the heating chamber, setting temperature to a maximum 400F by holding down the button. Let go sooner for a lower temperature.

A Firefly battery is rechargeable and removable. The lifetime of your device overall is not dictated by how hot you like your vapor (hot vapor uses up batteries quickly).

Every part of this unit is sturdy. It was made to be used and potentially dropped. The exterior consists of aircraft aluminum: tough enough for much more than anyone could put a vaporizer through, and worth its $270 price tag.

V2 Pro Series 3

V2 is usually associated with electronic cigarettes, but they saw which way the wind was blowing and knew that sooner or later their beginners would become intermediate and eventually advanced vapers. While planning how to keep up with a sophisticated audience, V2 Cigs created a 3-in-1 vaporizer.

That vaporizer is not an advanced vaping pen, but in late 2014 consumers can buy a unit with adjustable temperature and digital controls. It will function like a portable vaporizer and an APV at the same time.

The tiny Pro Series 3 magnetically connects a rechargeable base with one of three cartridges, each one capable of vaporizing a specific material. Choose e liquid, loose leaf herbs, or essential oils. The Series 3 base chooses a temperature automatically.

Pax by Ploom

A team of experts took years to engineer an all-in-one herbal vaporizer: the Pax. This is among the most practical devices, with a magnetic lid that becomes a mouthpiece.

Press the lid to release your mouthpiece; press it again to return it to its original position. Press one side to pivot and remove the mouthpiece so as to gain access to the herb chamber.

A light on one side changes color to indicate one of two things: battery charge or temperature. Just shake the Pax to find out how powerful the charge is. 370F, 390F, and 410F are your possible temperatures set using a button under the mouthpiece. Replace the lid and release the mouthpiece.

Yellow light shows your Pax has reached 370F. An orange glow stands for 390F. Red means your have reached 410F. Heating to 410F takes no more than a minute.

The Pax uses a built-in battery, which is rechargeable. To make it last longer, vape in the lower heat range. Pay about $250 to own one of these snazzy gizmos.

Purchase your Prize

Now you have some names, but where are these devices sold? Choosing an authorized re-seller or going straight to the website are two options. Online shopping is easy but can be risky. Contact a company authorized to carry the unit of your choice; a company that provides the full warranty, not a fantastic deal. A super-low price indicates that your product is a clone or the warranty is not in effect.

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